1988 NFL draft
National Football League draft
The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marquis in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected linebacker Aundray Bruce. The first player selected at the quarterback position was not selected until the third round (68th overall) with Tom Tupa (by the Phoenix Cardinals), who was also selected for his punting capabilities. This remains the latest point in NFL history in which the first quarterback has been selected. Since then, the 1996 NFL draft is the only other instance in which no quarterback was selected in the first round!
Player selections
Supplemental draft
Notable undrafted players
Hall of Famers
Michael Irvin, wide receiver from Miami, taken 1st round 11th overall by Dallas Cowboys
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2007
Randall McDaniel, offensive guard from Arizona State, taken 1st round 19th overall by Minnesota Vikings
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2009
Thurman Thomas, running back from Oklahoma State, taken 2nd round 40th overall by Buffalo Bills
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2007
Dermontti Dawson, center from Kentucky, taken 2nd round 44th overall by Pittsburgh Steelers
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2012
Tim Brown, wide receiver from Notre Dame, taken 1st round 6th overall by Los Angeles Raiders
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2015
Sterling Sharpe, wide receiver from South Carolina, taken 1st round 7th overall by Green Bay Packers
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2025
Eric Allen, cornerback from Arizona State, taken 2nd round 30th overall by Philadelphia Eagles
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2025
Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1988 Draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
The public source identifies “1988 NFL draft” as national Football League draft. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around draft, National and Football.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1988 NFL draft”, the useful work is to connect “national Football League draft” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3714929. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1988, 1996, 2007 and 2009.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1988 NFL draft”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1988 NFL draft primary sources, 1988 NFL draft archive and draft research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1988 NFL draft”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1988 NFL draft” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.